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Purpose and strategy

Our purpose is Storing vital products with care.

Royal Vopak is the world’s leading independent tank storage company. We operate a global network of terminals located at strategic locations along major trade routes. With a history of over 400 years, and a strong focus on sustainability, we ensure safe, clean and efficient storage and handling of bulk liquid products and gases for our customers. We handle vital products ranging from chemicals, oil, gases and LNG to biofuels and vegoils. Vopak is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange and is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Including our joint ventures and associates, we employ an international workforce of over 5,700 people.

Building on our heritage

Vopak’s history dates back to 1616. Our earliest ancestors stored and handled coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, silk, spices and other products from all over the world for trading companies such as the Dutch East India Company, the world’s first multinational company. Since then, much has changed. Dry bulk gave way to liquid bulk and the company grew, eventually establishing a presence on all the inhabited continents. Unchanged is that we are still loading and unloading ships and storing and handling products for multiple customers. We have thus been connecting global trade flows for over 400 years. Looking forward, we will continue to enable the delivery of vital products by building on our heritage and living the five Vopak Values: Care for Safety, Health and the Environment, Integrity, Team Spirit, Commitment and Agility.

Sustainability at the core

We store and handle products that are crucial to people’s lives, yet some of which can endanger their health and the environment if stored or handled inappropriately. This comes with a huge responsibility. As a service provider, we do not drive market choices, we facilitate energy and chemical flows. Our mission is to connect the supply of and demand for these products by providing safe, clean and efficient storage and handling services for our customers. By fulfilling our mission with care, we strive to be the partner of choice for all our stakeholders, from customers, business partners and investors, to governments, local communities and society at large.

Our ambition is to be a strong link in our customers’ value chains and a leader in our industry. We realize that our long-term success depends on our ability to innovate and adapt to new demands from both the market and society. This is why we proactively engage with our stakeholders and explore ways to facilitate the introduction of more sustainable technologies, processes and products.We believe that putting sustainability at the core of our decisions and operations will enable us to remain relevant to society and to continue to store and handle vital products for future generations.

Long term value creation

Sustainable long-term value creation for all stakeholders is inherent to Vopak’s business. We have flourished for more than 400 years by staying relevant to society thanks to our long-term focus, our ability to change and our entrepreneurial mentality. Our Value Creation Model captures what resources and expertise we use to create sustainable long-term value and share this with our stakeholders.

Storage demand drivers

As the world population is growing and becoming more affluent, vital products like energy, chemicals and food are in growing demand. Yet these products are not always locally available. We see a growing geographic imbalance between areas of production and areas of consumption of such products. This leads to transportation of chemicals, oil and gases over longer distances around the world and a growing demand for storage and handling of bulk liquids and gases at key locations along global marine trade routes.

Strategy

Through our global network of terminals, Vopak connects the supply of and demand for vital products and resources.This requires that we respond to constantly changing markets and product flows as a result of various major developments, such as ambitious climate policies, geopolitical shifts and the development of new energy sources and cleaner fuels. Determining the best locations for our terminals requires a long-term vision on the products that society needs, while evolving customer demands require flexibility and short-term action in the day-to-day work at the terminals. In such a dynamic context, our success depends on our ability to store vital products with care, by showing leadership in five key areas.

1.Leading assets in leading locationsOver the years, we have grown our global portfolio and sharpened our value proposition for our strategic terminal types: industrial, gas, distribution and hub terminals. At the same time, we keep instilling the ‘Vopak way’ in different geographies, resulting in a well-diversified and strong asset base at a lowest possible cost of ownership.

2. Operational leadershipVopak takes a leading role in operating capabilities and sets the standard in the field of safety and sustainability, service and costs. We abide by existing rules and regulations as a minimum and adopt best practices whenever possible. We explore ways to facilitate the introduction of more sustainable technologies, processes and products.

3. Service leadershipWhile safety is our first and foremost priority, we help to improve our customers’ business performance by maximizing operational productivity and increasing efficiency to keep costs down, for instance by shortening idle times. High customer satisfaction indicates that we are on the right track. Yet our aim is to perform even better, by continuing to listen to our customers and by anticipating their future needs.

4. Technology leadershipWe innovate in the way we design, construct, maintain and operate our terminals. This includes introducing new technology, in particular, digital technology like smart robots and mobile devices, to stay better connected with our customers. Innovation will help us reduce safety incidents, improve service through better traceability and planning, and lower costs by working more efficiently and saving energy.

5. People leadershipCare for people and the planet, and living our values, need to be leading in all our decisions. This requires that we inspire and challenge our people and help them develop the right capabilities and leadership skills. We aim for a highly motivated, skilled, agile and diverse Vopak team.

Founder's mentality

For all this, we find a foundation in a history dating back to 1616 and our 'founder's mentality'. This reminds us that we must not limit ourselves to what we know now and what has worked in the past, but be open to new solutions and opportunities, with an entrepreneurial mindset. This, in combination with the ‘Vopak Values’, enables us to work every day as if each one of us is the founder or owner of Vopak, investing in the company’s success.

Vopak's strategic terminal types in different supply chains

We ensure safe, clean and efficient storage and provide infrastructure services in different value chains for chemicals, oil, gases, biofuels and vegoils in three end markets: energy, manufacturing and food & agriculture. We serve countless people and communities around the world as end-user of these different value chains. These value chains span from production of feedstock to end-user distribution. Our terminal infrastructure plays a key role in connecting our customers’ products to their markets.

At the heart of Vopak's business model is the economic principle to provide a common infrastructure to many different customers and to benefit from economies of scale and utilization rates. We focus on our core activities, thereby enabling our customers to focus on their own core activities. Our customers also benefit from the flexibility provided by purchasing independent storage services as needed, i.e., the ability to use customized contract durations.

Industrial terminals

Vopak has more than 40 years of experience with industrial terminals. These often large terminals exclusively support chemical clusters in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia. We also operate terminals that have significant long-term pipeline connections and serve global and regional plants. We provide a centralized fit-for-purpose solution and deliver value to customers and local authorities through economies of scale.

LNG, LPG and chemical gases terminalsDemand for gas is increasing, driven by petrochemical and plastics production, for gas-fired power plants and for transportation purposes. This led Vopak to increase its focus on facilitating growth in global gas markets. By introducing infrastructure and logistic solutions for cleaner and efficient fuels like LPG and LNG, Vopak is contributing to the energy transition. We own and operate LPG storage terminals for example in the Netherlands, China and Singapore. Vopak operates LNG facilities in Mexico, the Netherlands and Pakistan.

Chemical terminalsThe strong growth of global chemicals demand is leading to an increased need for chemical storage capacity. Vopak has a strong presence in key chemical hub locations, including Antwerp, Rotterdam, Singapore and Houston and operates a global chemical distribution network. Besides our growth opportunities in chemicals, we are continuously searching for opportunities to improve our competitive position by further optimization of our infrastructure to service customers better.

Oil terminalsOil import, distribution and hub terminals remain an important part of our business. Oil hub terminals are strategically located along major shipping routes, where many suppliers, customers and traders are active and where efficient supply chain solutions are of utmost importance. Our oil hubs are located in Rotterdam, Fujairah and the Singapore Strait. GDP and population growth drive the consumption of energy products. Vopak plays an important role in the import and distribution of energy products in major oil markets with structural deficits.

The products we store

As an independent service provider, we do not own the products that we store for our customers. Neither do we determine what types of products are in use. At the same time, we strive to be a responsible member of the communities in which we operate. We adhere to permits, national and international regulations as a minimum and commit to safe, clean and effective storage. We also explore ways to facilitate the introduction of more sustainable technologies, processes and products.

Our customers

The customers we serve include producers, distributors and traders of oil products, chemicals, gasses, biofuels, edible oils and LNG. Based on their geographic footprint, they can be divided into three categories; global, regional and local customers. We have an integrated global approach for our largest global customers supported by dedicated global key account relationships established within the commercial teams.

Our suppliers

Our suppliers vary from global qualified vendors, used for equipment and IT automation, to local service and construction suppliers. We aim for long-term partnerships and ensure continuous improvement on quality, efficiency and safety. In line with our sustainability policy and Vopak’s Code of Conduct, we require from our suppliers, contractors and their sub-tier suppliers and contractors to adhere to our Supplier Code.